When you add a 4-way electrical wall switch to a wiring circuit with a number of 3-way switches, you can turn a lighting fixture or appliance on and off from several different locations. For example, you may want to control a ceiling light in the basement from the top of the stairs, from the bottom of the stairs, and from a door leading to the outside. This is not as complicated as it sounds, but when working with electrical wiring, you will want to know how to wire a 4-way switch easily and safely.

Steps

Method1

Put safety first.

1

Turn off electric power.

Locate circuit breaker box.

Identify the circuit breaker that controls electricity in the area where you will be working.

Turn off that circuit breaker.

2

Return to location you plan to wire and use current detector to verify that there is no electric flow to that box.

If it lights up, you did not identify the correct circuit breaker and need to return to the circuit breaker box and start over.

If it does not light up, there is no current, and it is safe to proceed

Method2

Examine the 4-way switch.

1

Study the 4-way switch and the manufacturer's directions.

A 4-way switch has 4 terminals or poles.

Two terminal/poles are labeled "in," and two are labeled "out."

Wires, called "travelers," will travel straight through or crisscross.

Method3

Wire the switch.

1

Consider the lighting fixture as the "source" of the flow of current.

Two wires enter to the source fixture's wire box; the black one carries the current, and the white wire is neutral.

2

Connect the black wire coming into the light box to the white wire that leads out of the box to the switch box, and allow that white wire to continue as a neutral flow.

Remove about 0.25 inches (0.635 cm) of rubber insulation.

Use needle-nose pliers to wrap the exposed ends together.

Complete connection by screwing wire nut onto joint tightly.

Wrap the wire nut connection with electric tape.

Repeat this wire connection process at each wire connection.

3

Connect the black wire coming from the fixture to the black wire leading out of the box.

4

Connect the white wire coming into the light's box to the white wire on the fixture.

Method4

Wire the first 3-way switch.

1

Connect the black wire coming into the switch box to the black wire extending from the switch.

Complete the circuit.

Community Q&A

The same way you would wire one light fixture with two switches. There are many ways to wire a 3-way switch. Once you pick which one matches yours, you just replace the diagram with 2 lights instead of one light.

I wanted to buy a single-pole switch of a specific color. I did find a 4-way switch with the color I wanted. Is it possible to wire the four way switch to work like a single pole?

wikiHow Contributor

Yes. If you have a multimeter, use the continuity setting. Pick one of the four posts of the 4-way switch to hook up the source power. Put one lead of the multimeter on this post. Test the other posts to see which one has continuity and which does not. Leave the lead on a post that does not have continuity with your initial post. Now flip the switch. Does it have continuity now? All you have to do is use two posts of your 4-way switch that alternate continuity when you flip the switch. That's all a regular switch is doing, breaking the continuity between your source power and your load.